Why should I write my goals?
As we begin yet another year with excitement about the possibilities that await us, it is the perfect time to think about your future and put your creative self into motion as you design your life the way you want it to be by writing down your goals. Unfortunately, far too many never really put any real thought into their lives and just go with the flow, with the mantra “whatever will be, will be”. Those who live life on purpose know the importance of taking the time to create their future self by writing down their goals and creating plans that will ultimately lead them to the achievement of each goal.
Not having written goals would be like getting in your car and just driving for hours with no idea where your final destination will be, something that most people would never think of doing yet, those same people will leave their futures in the hands of happenstance and circumstance.
Written Goals = A Changed Life
Spend some time thinking about what you’d like your life to be like. If you haven’t already done so, find a quiet place, sit down and write out the goals you’d like to accomplish within the next 12 months. It’s a good idea to set both short and long term goals but for the purpose of this first sitting, think about how different you’d like your life to be one year from now.
Write down exactly what you want the following areas to be within the next 12 months and be sure to put a date by each one when you want to have accomplished it.
- Spiritual well-being (my relationship with God, spiritual maturity)
- Friendships, family and love relationships
- Your health and eating habits
- Your career aspirations
- Your finances (savings, debt and giving) Your thought life and emotional well being
- Travel, leisure and family time
- What would you like to do more or less of?
I’ve Written My Goals, Now What?
Take time to identify these areas and add any additional ones that you would like to see changed this year. Revisit your goals, particularly your short-term ones on a regular basis to make sure you remain on track.
As you think about them, ask yourself, “Do they make you want to jump out of bed each day eager to get going?” or, “Do they make you want to do more, be more, or learn more?” Set goals that will make you stretch beyond the person you are today so that one year from now you can look back and not even recognize the person you used to be. Be careful not to set your goals so low that they have you feeling as though you have nothing to look forward to. Doing this leave you feeling unmotivated. Because of fear of failure many people will set goals that they feel are “more realistic”, which in turn has an the adverse affect of making you lower your expectations.
While this may seem like the right thing to do, in reality, it will leave you totally uninspired and unmotivated to achieve your goals. If you begin to realize that the goals that you have set are not inspiring you to be more or do more then you should immediately set new goals that are beyond your reach and that challenge you to get excited every day about the possibilities that await as you go on your path to fulfill each and every one. Your goals should keep you excited at the thought of reaching them, as you imagine the life you will lead having accomplished them.
Begin creating the life you’ve always wanted
Write your goals, being as specific as possible about what you want to achieve including the goal, the date by which you want to achieve the goal and how you feel having already achieved the goal.
For example, instead of writing “I want to lose weight this year,” write your goal in the present tense as if you’ve already achieved it, for example, “I’m so happy and so thankful that I am at my ideal weight of 130 pounds. I’m so excited to get the fresh air and exercise that my body needs to keep me in perfect health.” As you begin to make wiser food choices and get up and start moving you will begin to notice changes in your physical appearance over time. Instead of writing, “I want to make more money this year,” be specific and write down exactly how much you want to make this year, the actions you will take to make this money and the time-frame within which you want to have this money.
You should also write actions that you will take immediately to begin to move you toward the achievement of that goal (i.e., clean out the kitchen cabinets of the cookies and chips; sell an item on eBay, etc.)
Each day, read your goals, keeping them on your mind while you concentrate on the feelings that you will feel once you’ve accomplished each one. Get excited as you think about fitting into the perfect dress or paying off that last credit card. Feeling the excitement you will feel once it is accomplished will work to draw that thing to you much faster as your subconscious mind really doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what is intensely imagined.
At first, you may feel silly as you go through this exercise, but before long it will become a habit and you will begin to see tangible changes in your life from the person you are today to the person you will be one year from now.
